'M0M'^ 



y-k.±M^--i 




RHYMES 



OF 



YANKEE LAND 



AELLA GREENE. 



^0 



EIGHTH EDITION. 






4> 1879. ^y 



BOSTON: 

LEE & SIIEPARD, PUBLISHERS. 

1879. 



^ 






a^n 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 

AELLA GREENE, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 



THE CLARK W. BKVAN COMPANY, 
ELECTROTVPERS, PXINTRRS AND BINDERS, 
SPRINGFIEMl, MASS. 



TX) 

MY NEW ENGLAND FRIENDS, 

AT HOME AND WESTWARD, 

I- Dedicate 

THESE 

"rhymes of YANKEE LAND." 



CONTENTS. 



THE SMITHVILLE WORTHIES: 

Squire Smith, . 

Doctor Bliss, . 

The Village School-master, 

Crispin Crane, . 

JlR. JoxES, the Smith, . 

AniJAH Beers, . 
LIGHT FROM DARK: 

Into the Sunshine, 

Rest in Work, 

"Yea, Welcome Grief," 

"How Blessed and True the Belief," 

"The Sugar Camp in early Spring," 
MISCELLANEOUS: 

Mv Comrade's Grave, . 

A Tribute, 

The Sweetheart, . 

A Model Sunday-School, . 

When You and I Weue Boys, 

The Yankee Westward, 

"Two Decades Bright," 

Chicago's Trial by Fire, . 

" The Paper," . . * . 

Be Cheerful Ever, 

In All Labor there is Profit, 

An Acknowledgment, . 

"She Placed the Bitter Sweet," 

Williamsburg, . 

"Fence up the Way," . 

A Word of Cheer, . 

They Meet Again, . 



9 
17 
21 
25 
S8 
41 

45 
47 
50 
53 
56 

61 
62 
64 
66 
68 
73 
77 
79 
82 
84 
86 
89 
91 
94 
102 
105 
106 



VI CONTENTS. 



"Nay, 'TIS Not Thus," *09 

The Brighter Days, 1^^ 

" If Every One Observed," 1'3 

"And Numbered Forty-Six," 115 

Our Yankee Land, 120 

Thine, 1^4 

"Among the Lisbon Hills," 126 

"Concerning One You Love," . 128 

"Of Thee and Thine," 130 

" No Other," 1^2 

" For Thee a Song," 133 

On Canterbury Green, 135 

"Too Many Hearts ARE Sad To-night," 138 

" Our Northern Route," l**^ 

BARNES VILLE: 

Elnathan Barnes, 1^3 

The Sunday Teacher, 156 

John Carlton 158 

Thu Journalist 162 

The Wicked 165 

SATIRES : 

The Critics 1C9 

The Allopaths, 171 

My litany, 173 

The Dead Dougherty, 175 

The Imperial 177 

A PLEASANT GUOUP: 

"Come Happy Bird," 181 

For Words Select, 183 

The Bright and Wise, 184 

"Serenest Star," 187 

" Where Flowers Bloom," 189 

"The Stars Have Hkard," 190 

MISCELLANEOUS : 

Grand Old Greenfield, 193 

"Earth's Brightest Star," 196 

A Silver Day 199 

"The Bay State's Forty-Second," 201 

BEKKstTiRE Scenes, 204 

A Golden Day 206 



THE 

SMITHVILLE WORTHIES. 



SQUIRE SMITH. 

/^LD Mister Smith of Smithville died 

Two weeks ago to-day ; 
We always thought the person Hed 
Who said he'd pass away. 

With buoyant step, and fragrant breath. 

And face with health aglow, 
He seemed no older near his death 

Than twenty years ago. 

But gone he has, at last, from earth. 

As every mortal must, 
Of noble or of lowly birth. 

Unrighteous they, or just. 



10 SQUIRE SMITH. 

Though it may seem as useless quite, 

To weep and make ado, 
Still, I have thought it well to write 

Of him a rhyme or two. 

Possessing not a noted name, 
Nor piles of treasure high, 

He yet enjoyed of pelf and fame 
A moderate supply. 

For comely speech, and good intent, 

And for his neat attire, 
The villagers with one consent. 

Regarded him as "Square." 

Attending church on Sabbath days, 
As everybody should, 



SQUIRE SMITH. H 

He joined in all the prayer and praise. 
As pious people would. 

Within the week he walked in town, 

On pleasant afternoons, 
Wearing a modest suit of brown, 

And humming quiet tunes. 

He kept his temper all the while, 

In weather dry or wet ; 
And had a penny, or a smile, 

For every child he met. 

Of joy his heart the source and spring, 

To him no dark nor wrong ; 
He seemed from bitterest grief to bring 

The melody of song. 



12 SQUIRE SMITH. 

At inns he never lingered much, 

For beer and greater grog ; 
When coming home from clubs and such, 

Was never in a fog. 

The Squire no stated calling had, 

A "jack at every trade;" 
At neither one was reckoned bad. 

But quite a figure made. 

Three years a farmer's life he led ; 

There seemed to him a charm, 
To gain his raiment and his bread, 

By managing a farm. 

For several years he kept a school, 
In an adjoining place ; 



SQUIRE SMITH. I^ 

Maintaining there a pleasant rule, 
With dignity and grace. 

He also wrote a little book 

About his native town, 
That had a literary look, — 

Done up in covers brown. 

To Washington he never went. 

As statesman had no forte ; 
Yet twice had been as juror sent. 

And once to General Court ! 

He did not take to allopaths, 

As would some other men, 
But patronized cold water baths, 

And sometimes took cayenne. 



14 SQUIRE SMITH. 

He spurned a miser as a thief, 
And acted, "on the square;" 

Though not a Mason, my belief 
Is Smith had once been there. 

He kept his courage always up, 
And kept his record clear; 

Kept only water in his cup, 
And kept his wife so dear. 

He kept of Sabbaths fifty-two ; 

Kept everything of worth; 
Kept more than most of people do. 

And always kept "the Fourth." 

He kept his course with ease and grit ; 
Kept all he thought or heard. 



SQUIRE SMITH. I5 

That was for keeping really fit ; 
And always kept his word. 

Smith led a quiet, even life, 

And died when near fourscore, 
Leaving to mourn him his good wife. 

And grown up children four. 

And on that saddest funeral day. 

There gathered at his bier, 
A thousand friends, as true and tried. 

As ever shed a tear. 

Within the churchyard, 'neath a yew, 

They made his grave with care ; 
And lingeringly they bade adieu. 

With sorrow, and with prayer. 



l6 SQUIRE SMITH. 

Ye better bards, to whom belong 
High themes and lofty verse, 

Still deem as not unworthy song, 
The life these lines rehearse. 

Although a humble man was he. 
Our Smith was still a man ; 

As good on earth we seldom see. 
And better, never can. 



DOCTOR BLISS. 

'' I ^HE people were so seldom sick 

That it was very true, 
The one physician in the town 
Had not enough to do. 

This doctor was a gentleman, 

Of average grace and wit, 
Who studied just six years, until 

For practice fully fit. 

Then took his "sheep-skin" and his leave, 

And unto Smithville went. 
There hung his shingle out, and lived 

Until his days were spent. 



1 8 DOCTOR BLISS. 

Although an allopath, he felt 

Not very much inclined, 
To be at odds with those who had 

A different course in mind. 

Indulging patients in their whims, 

He seldom would refuse 
Such mild "botanies" as their friends 

Might deem it best to use. 

He was so kind, this Doctor Bliss, 
To press him there to stay, 

The townsmen all agreed by vote, 
A salary to pay. 

That potent medicine, a smile, 
He carried everywhere. 



DOCTOR BLISS. 

To cheer the sick, and drive away 
That worst of curses, care. 

A wit declared, and it was true, 

When sickness was about, 
The doctor, walking through the town, 

Could look the sickness out. 

There is a legend wide extant, 
Once Death came walking by. 

The doctor challenged him to fight 
And made the monster fly. 

But Bliss, devoted to the art 

Of making people well, 
To sickness and to medicine, 

At last, a victim fell. 



19 



20 DOCTOR BLISS. 

He loved the Squire, and looked like him. 

Clad trim in brown attire ; 
Near him he lived, and now at death, 

Is buried near the Squire. 



THE VILLAGE SCHOOL-MASTER. 

A WORTHY gentleman in town, 
Respected and revered, 
Was William Wilson, learned and wise, 
A teacher born and reared. 

He was a very proper man, 

Yet cheerful as was meet ; 
None were more knowing in the place. 

Nor any so discreet. 

The little school-house where he taught 

For twenty years and more, 
Had but three windows on a side, 

And one above the door. 



22 THE VILLAGE SCHOOL-MASTER. 

It cost six hundred dollars, just, 

As records do appear ; 
And yet the scholars came to think 

The place was very dear. 

It stood upon the village green, 
Hard by the " center church ; " . 

Was well supplied with furniture, 
But unsupplied with birch. 

This Wilson had a better way 
To punish recreant boys, 

Who had been lazy at their books, 
Or making needless noise. 

Within a very "dreadful book," 
Where every crime had grade ; 



THE VILLAGE SCHOOL-MASTER. 23 

For every wrong a scholar did, 
■ So many checks were made. 

These famous checks had come to be 

Regarded with such dread, 
Some of the culprits thought it were 

Far better to be dead. 

With patience and with kindly care. 

He led his pupils through 
The path of common learning, till 

They every feature knew. 

And oft, perchance, they caught a glimpse 

Of classic grove and field, 
And felt a longing for the fruits 

Those pleasant regions yield ; 



2/\ THE VILLAGE SCHOOL-MASTER. 

But Euclid and " the languages," 
In district schools of yore, 

Were all discarded and forbid, 
As very useless lore. 

Since Wilson gave up teaching school. 
Ten years and five have passed ; 

But through a century to come 
His influence shall last. 

He still resides within the town ; 

And though threescore and ten. 
The people all declare he is 

The comeliest of men. 



CRISPIN CRANE. 

T N praise of one whose worth and wit 

The Smithville people prize ; 
Who, by a timely repartee, 
Found favor in their eyes : 

Disciple of St. Crispin he, 

And christened Crispin Crane, 

He mended boots and shoes for folks. 
To get his bread and gain. 

A kind, a brave, a little man, 

But five feet tall when up, 
He booted well each man that came, 

And then would ask to sup. 



26 CRISPIN CRANE. 

His dwelling was adjacent to 
His little shop, you see ; 

So, often, did his customers 
" Drop in " to take some tea. 

He took their measure in the shop 
When guests, they came to find 

He fully had the power to take 
The measure of their mind. 

Full often, in the village store, 
A brainless, brassy brag, 

Did all the village people bore, 
Defeating wise and wag. 

The townsmen said, " If any man 
Will squelch that dolt and fool, 



CRISPIN CRANE. 2/ 

We'll send him to the capitol, 
Or fee his son at school." 

One eve he boasted loud how great 
His understanding was ; 
" Let him among you show such mind. 
A greater mind who has ! " 

Said Crane — and pointed to his feet — 
" Your 'standings large ! forsooth ; 

None may gainsay the fact, for I 
The measure took of both." 

Annihilation is no name 

For how that fellow felt ; 
He hasted out and little boys 

With pebbles him did pelt. 



28 CRISPIN CRANE. 

The morrow was town-meeting day, 
And ere the time was spent, 

They voted all that Crane should be 
To legislature sent. 

He proved so wise a little man, 

So jolly with his friends, 
So loth to speak, and always, then. 

To bring about good ends, 

So keen, and quick, and powerful, too, 

A boasting man to floor ; 
Some of the members of the House, 

I think about a score, 

Drew up a paper in due form, 
And set to it their "fist," 



CRISPIN CRANE. 29 

Of which, if records are correct, 
The following is the gist : 

Good Mister Smith, respected Squire, 

And friend of Crispin Crane ; 
We wish, at your election, you 

Would send him here again." 

He went again, and still once more. 

Until six times in all ; 
Nor by the lures of lobby men 

Did he from honor fall. 

'Twas in his time of public life 

A party rose and fell, 
Whose bad disaster at their schemes 

'Tis pleasurable to tell. 



CRISPIN CRANE. 

Late in the term a question rose 

This party called the test ; 
For which their leader spoke at length, 

With artificial zest; 

And wound his closing period up 
To show " How blessed the land, 

When 'garjuns' of the public peace 
Labor reformers stand ! " 

" Labor reformers ! " Crispin quoth, 
" That means too proud to work ! 
And rightly named, for well you like 
Life's burdens all to shirk. 

"You're all adventurers and shams, 
Unknown to honest toil. 



CRISPIN CRANE. 3 1 

Full frequent at the village inns, 
And in the cheaper broils. 

" Below the wrath of common men, 
Too cheap for ours by half, 
We'll not oppose your plannings, but 
Explode them with a laugh ! " 

The wit that beamed in Crispin's eyes 

Put all in merry mood, 
As rang around the galleries 

One soul-refreshing " Good ! " 

The gavel man forgot to rap, 

Reporters dropped their notes, 
Some member moved "the question!" and — 

The measure had twelve votes ! 



32 CRISPIN CRANE. 

And that's the way the party died 
By this sarcastic Crane ; 

And hence the reason he was sent 
To General Court again. 

And since he finished there for all. 
And closed his public life, 

He's just as busy in his shop 
And pleasant to his wife. 

When once as petit juror drawn, 
Crane went to county court, 

To find how much the panel work 
Was his delight and forte. 

The court was held in meager hall. 
Quite hot on summer days. 



CRISPIN CRANE. 33 

And in its age so trembling weak 
'Twas fastened up by stays. 

The judge who ruled that county court 

Had good judicial grace; 
He spoke melodiously, but wore 

A stern, though sunny, face. 

Serenely beamed through glasses bright. 

The long-tried county clerk ; 
Who able seemed for many years 

To swear men into work. 

Across the court room from his chair 

Crane saw, in buff and blue, 
The sheriff sit in dignity, 

A pleasant man to view. 



34 CRISPIN CRANE. 

To try a foolish case about 

The matter of a "V," 
It cost a hundred dollars, just, 

Besides the lawyers' fee. 

The "great case" of the term was next 
Before Crane's panel brought, 

In which a citizen his claims 
Of railway people sought". 

The wooden witnesses were turned 

By crafty lawyers round, 
And made to swear that light was dark. 

And broken cars were sound. 

The lawyers, next, their arguments 
Unto his honor spoke ; 



CRISPIN CRANE. 33 

And in their speech most fearfully 
The ninth commandment broke. 

The proper judge, polite and prompt, 

The jurors charged full clear; 
And they a verdict gave, unbought 

By favor, love, or fear. 

It didn't suit defendants much ; 

To make a greater stench, 
They vowed to carry up the case 

Unto the higher bench. 

One afternoon there came a lull 

In business of the court, 
As lazy lawyers couldn't get 

Their clients to report. 



36 CRISPIN CRANE. 

• 

The judge evinced a wish to quit, 
And bade to end the assize ; 
" For when there is no work to do, 
This court had better rise." 

The crier closed the court, and said, 
" God save the Commonwealth ! " 

Opposing lawyers parted friends, 
And wished each other health. 

Crane's panel parted on the steps 

Of that low, dingy hall, 
With little hope it would give way 

To comely building tall. 

The public men who had in charge 
The matter of a site, 



CRISPIN CRANE. 37 

Had passed their time in foolish fuss 
That grew into a fight. 

That dingy court-house stands there still ! 

A relic of the past ; 
Wherein the lawyers show their wit, 

And argue questions vast. 



MR. JONES, THE SMITH. 

A STALWART, strong and cheerful man, 
Our village Vulcan, Jones, 
Was no exception to the rule 

That smiths are seldom drones. 
From morning stars till evening dews 

His swinging hammer rang, 
In keeping with the words and tunes 
Of ballads which he sang. 

Around his shop tall maples grew 

And robins caroled there. 
And rose and daffodil exhaled 

Their sweetness on the air. 



MR. JONES, THE SMITH. 39 

The gladdest man in town, he saw- 
More sadness than the rest, 

But found his joy in frequent work 
To have the saddened blest. 

The humbler people of the place 

Esteemed him very dear ; 
And men of higher rank than Jones 

Have sought his shop for cheer. 
Did any speak of loss, he showed 

The faith which never tires ; 
Or tell of luck, his face would glow 

As ruddy as his fires. 

And men who shine as millionaires 
And rulers in the land, 



40 MR. JONES, THE SMITH. 

Are glad to say, that, years ago, 

He gave a helping hand, 
And spoke the words of cheer that gave 

Them courage for the fight, 
And patience, as they watched through dark 

The coming of the light. 

He seeks no higher station than 

His anvil and his home ; 
But neighbors think he'll have high place 

In that good world to come. 
His life, throughout, an argument 

How grand the humble man, 
In meekness who performeth all 

The noble deeds he can. 



ABIJAH BEERS. 

'THHOUGH Smithville was so blest of heaven, 

To it one tedious thorn was given. 
The place had one perfected sinner, 
Most surely who had been the winner, 
Did he and Satan run a race 
On any course away from grace. 
Supremely mean in all his deeds ; 
His heart as hard as flint ; the needs 
Caused by his extortions moved him not. 
The pining poor were all forgot ; 
Selfish, thick, marble-faced and stern, 
Full quick to sin, and apt to learn 
The ways of avarice and wrong; 



42 ABIJAH BEERS. 

On primal sin improving long, 

He chose oppression for his art, 

And practiced it with all his heart ; 

His sinning cloaked with graciousness. 

And cursed when he appeared to bless. 

He so gifted in causing tears 

Had fitting name, Abijah Beers. 

May gods protect if here, again, 

So bad a man 'mong living men ; 

And there was not, since earth began. 

So much of meanness in a man. 

The liberals declared for hell. 

Else where could that great sinner dwell. 

He died at last as fools do die ; 

Thistles thrive where his ashes lie ! 



LIGHT FROM DARK. 



INTO THE SUNSHINE. 

/^^OME to the sunshine bringing bloom, 

For the rose there's always room ; 
Come to the sunshine bringing bloom. 

Out from darkness and from night 
Into the beams of morning light, 
Out from darkness and from night. 

Into the sunshine for relief. 
Bring the troubled sons of grief; 
Into the sunshine for relief 

Into the sunshine with a song, 

Grasp their hand and lead them strong 

Into the sunshine with a song. 



46 INTO THE SUNSHINE. 

Bring to the sunshine of your trust ; 
If they succeed, you surely must 
Bestow the sunshine of your trust. 

Full and free, to all impart 

The sunshine of a generous heart ; 

Full and free to all impart. 

Live in the sunshine while you live, 
And unto all your sunshine give ; 
Live in the sunshine while you live. 

Into the sunshine when you die, 
Into the sunshine up to the sky ; 
Into the sunshine when you die. 



REST IN WORK. 

/'^H, tell me some secluded place, 

Where, weary with this fitful race. 
These tired limbs awhile may rest, 
These tired eyes with sleep be biest, 
This aching heart be freed from cares. 
From disappointments and despairs, 
And breathe there o'er my soul a calm. 
Amid the fragrance and the balm. 

Yet, if it be not wise to rest ; 
If calls the race for speed and zest. 
Or shine the fields with harvest white 
That must be garnered ere the night. 



48 REST IN WORK. 

My feet shall run, my hands shall toil, 
No sighs for rest my purpose foil 
To do the work and do it well. 
No friends so fair or foes so fell 
Shall win or fright me from the task, 
Nor lessening of the work I'll ask. 

I'll bear a manly part in life. 

Nor fret or falter in the strife ; 

And, spirit crushed or heart depressed, 

Yet full of hope, alive with zest. 

Protract youth's joys far into age, 

Walk royally on pilgrimage ; 

Be meek, but not a dolt nor slave ; 

Patient in dole, in danger brave ; 

'Till, blossomed white with grief or joy, 

I take my bliss without alloy. 



REST IN WORK. 49 

But tell me some sweet resting-place, 
That I may better run the race ; 
A respite give awhile from pain, 
That I the grief may bear again. 
Yet if this boon be still denied, 
Oh ! Thou to whom none fruitless cried. 
Grant me at least one sweet relief; 
Since there are ever sons of grief, 
Grant me to help them bear the load 
And teach to tread the paths I trod ; 
In sympathy with those who weep 
A respite from my sorrows reap. 



"YEA, WELCOME GRIEF." 

'VT'EA, welcome grief in every form, — 
Of biting blast or whelming storm ; 
The streams that would an ocean fill, 
Or slow, continuous, wearing rill ; 
Or trouble's flail, or sorrow's mill ; 
A thorny path up rocky hill, 
Or desert sands to scorch the feet, 
Where torrid suns in fervor beat ; 
Or barren, drear, and sunless plains. 
Where gloomy winter monarch reigns. 

Up rocky hills sweet arbors are, 
And not a flaming sword to bar ; 



"YEA, WELCOME GRIEF." CI 

And shineth still, though still afar, 
Hope's blessed, bright, benignant star. 
Hot deserts their oases have ; 
And, crossed, the pleasant plash of wave. 
And sound of brooks, and warbhng grove, 
Shall lift the pilgrim's heart above. 

The true man says, though die I must. 
Till death I'll keep a beaming trust, 
Though every plan should fall in dust, 
And choicest treasures yield to rust. 
Night brings the day, grief bringeth bliss ; 
And never that but cometh this. 
Peace follows war, thorns speak the rose ; 
Fatigue foreruns a sweet repose ; 
And he who toils, nor seeks for rest. 
With respite from his work is blest. 



" YEA, WELCOME GRIEF. 

Or this the doctrine of true saints, 
That he who hath but patient plaints, 
And interludes his woe with songs, 
To royal race and home belongs ; 
And, crowned, shall come in little time 
To thrones, and feast, and heavenly chime ; 
And gain within this earthly clime, 
A joy above ail harp and rhyme ! 



'HOW BLESSED AND TRUE THE BELIEF 

T T OVV blessed and true the belief, 

That the joy which comes after grief 
Is sweeter, and never so brief 
As other joys. 

How grandly inspiring the thought, 
That the bliss by bitterness bought, 
Is nearer to heaven than aught 
On earth beside. 

How sweet after storm is the sun, 
And rest after labor is done, — 
The peace that by battling is won. 
And wealth, by toil. 



54 "how blessed and true the belief.' 

If discouraged and distressed, 
With sorrow and with care oppressed. 
And sins confessed and unconfessed. 
And every ill, 

The heart were struggling for relief, 
And found no succor from its grief. 
In buoyant trust and bright belief — 
How sad the earth. 

But rules converse of these obtain. 
Nor mortal suffered yet in vain, 
A trivial nor the largest pain, 
Nor ever will. 

So let the troubled take good heart, 
Learn well of suffering the art, 



"how blessed and true the belief." 55 

Nor shun to share a generous part 
In life's good griefs. 

Right where unkindest luck o'ertakes, 
Our happy planning rudely breaks, 
Of choicest treasures havoc makes, 
We shall succeed. 

We shall succeed, for God ordains, 
Whoever suffers loss or pains. 
Shall reap therefor abundant gains, 
The interest due. 

Of none the Father has such care, 
As those who have abundant share 
Of losses and of griefs to bear, 
And foes to meet 



"THE SUGAR CAMP IN EARLY SPRING." 

'' I ^HE sugar camp, in early spring, 

Was fragrant 'neath the hill; 
Where liquid sweet, from maple trees, 
Did pleasantly distill. 

Beneath the slab-roofed shed the fires, 

O'er which the kettles hung, 
And when the syrup "grained" in time 

The cranes were outward swung. 

Then " dips " of waxen sugar, John, 

You offered to the girls; 
Two smiling dears of sweet sixteen, 

With innocence and curls. 



" THE SUGAR CAMP IN EARLY SPRING. 5/ 

One was a sister, good and true, 

The other choicer friend, 
Whom afterwards you vowed to love. 

Till earthly days should end. 

And now the kerchief that she hemmed 

Is moist with tears you shed, 
To think that ere the wedding day 

Your bonnie Jane was dead. 

And so you sigh, and so you learn 

It is how sadly true. 
Our choicest good and dearest friend 

Do quickly fade from view. 

But every day you live to mourn 
You seem so much a man, 



58 "the sugar camp in early spring. 

I am inclined to think the loss 
Is other than a ban. 

And yet 'tis tender business this, 
To rightly touch the heart, 

Which even long ago was called 
From troth or kin to part. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



MY COMRADE'S GRAVE. 

A CHRISTIAN, comrade, son, and friend* 
Is slumbering 'neath this sod ; 
His form is there, his name with us, 
His spirit with his God. 

Fit place it is for hero's grave, 

Where mountain zephyrs play ; 
Where fair ones bring the choicest flowers. 

And good men pause to pray. 

To designate his sepulcher, 

We raise this shaft, but trust 
His deeds shall live when monuments 

Are crumbled into dust. 

*John J. Bisbee, of Worthington. 



A TRIBUTE. 

TV^IND, Christian lady, faithful friend 

Accept each humble line, 
Inscribed, in heartfelt praise, to worth 
And noble deeds like thine. 

How wise thy words, and fitly said ; 

They guide, encourage, cheer ; 
Dispel the darkness of defeat, 

With hope displacing fear. 

Some kindnesses are burdensome, 

In fact, designed as debts; 
Not thine, these favors, which, increased, 

But multiply regrets. 



A TRIBUTE. 

Like showers thy benedictions come. 

Refreshing as the dew ; 
Delightful as the morning sun, 

Or as the upper blue. 

Ah ! gentle friend, how bright the earth 

In every clime would be, 
Did all admire and practice, too, 

Unselfishness like thee. 



63 



THE SWEETHEART. 

OO bold, should one of you accuse 

That some sweet girl inspires my muse, 
To all the rest it would be news, 
But not to me. 

She never tells the blessed fact. 
By any word or any act. 
Evincing such consummate tact, 
To keep it hid 

She is not reckoned on the list, 
Of those who try to "keep it whist;" 
And in the search she might assist, 
And no one sruess. 



THE SWEETHEART. 65 

We'll keep the secret a little more, 
Then, as so many have before, 
We'll seek the parson's friendly door, 
And tell it there. 



A MODEL SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 

A SUNDAY-SCHOOL our special charge. 
Wherein the Httle and the large. 
Shall sweetest truths of gospel learn ; 
Do greatest work, nor smallest spurn ; 
But deem it ever grandest lot, 
To gather in from hall and cot, 
From way-side stroll, or nursery door, 
The children of the rich and poor, 
And teach them from the gospel word 
The record of the blessed Lord, 
Who came to earth, and took our dust, 
And died to give us chance to trust. 
No bashful boy without our door, 



A MODEL SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 6/ 

Shall weep that no one prizes more, 
Nor asks to have a place within 
The walls designed to fence out sin. 
We welcome each, and welcome all, 
And at the joy-inspiring call, 
Of Sabbath bell, on Sabbath morn. 
When brightest smiles his face adorn, 
And at the eve, and through the week. 
Each teacher will for learners seek. 
And seek them gladly, grandly, too, 
As angels highest errands do. 



WHEN YOU AND I WERE BOYS. 

"X^ZE count above our common good, 

Selectest of our joys, 
What people did in sunny times, 
When you and I were boys. 

'Mid lilacs and the clover bloom, 

Our early moments ran ; 
And happy in the songs of birds. 

We journeyed up to man. 

These scenes so blest to realize, 

Are brighter, brighter far, 
That memory doth with golden key 

The gates of light unbar. 



WHEN YOU AND I WERE BOYS. 69 

What Other cure the world prescribes, 

By far the safest, best, 
Is glancing at our early days, 

Is retrospect and rest. 

From cares and crowds of urban life. 

From traffic of the town ; 
From wearing toil in dust and din, 

From griefs that weigh you down ; 

From present ill, and future dread, 

And all that fetters thee, 
Come to the country and the past, 

Be innocent and free. 

Review the scenes of early days, 
With kind, religious care ; 



JO WHEN YOU AND I WERE BOYS. 

The neighborhood once all your world, 
And every object there. 

The pansied yard, the slant well-sweep, 

And apple orchard near; 
The ancient farm-house, broad and red, 

By many memories dear ; 

The hay-field and the pasture wide. 

The fences by the lane; 
The thick-leafed maples where you hid 

When pattered down the rain ; 

The road where erst the stage-coach ran, 

You studied as it passed ; 
That yellow coach with "thorough-brace," 

And built to have it last ; 



WHEN YOU AND I WERE BOYS. J \ 

The level and the hilly road. 

On which you trudged to school, 
To " make your manners " and to learn 

Hard Colburn's sum and rule ; 

The school-house with its seats and stove, 
And desks where jack-knives wrought, 

And all the friendships that arose 
' Twixt teacher and the taught ; 

The ancient church and man of prayer, 

And gracious words and looks ; 
The lessons of the Sunday class, 

And pleasant Sunday books— 

These, and the thousand other scenes 
Thine early being knew 



72 WHEN YOU AND I WERE BOYS. 

Shall bring thee blessed light and balm, 
And keep thee fresh and true. 

By frequently reviewing them. 

Thou shalt be young till death 
Shall lift thee to the rarer bliss 

Of everlasting breath. 



THE YANKEE WESTWARD. 

T N every western state they are, 

True sons of Yankee land, 
With earnest heart and buoyant hopes, 
And ready, skillful hand ; 

With native wit and lore of books, 
Clear fire and common sense ; 

With grit and patience to endure 
And earnestness intense. 

They go with lasting faith and pluck, 

A freshness, and a trust, 
They kept alive when erst they laid 

The Briton in the dust ; 



74 THE YANKEE WESTWARD. 

To fell the forest and to build 

The railway and the mill ; 

« 

A pilgrim school in every glen, 
A church on every hill ; 

To fence and till in yeoman farms. 

The prairie and ravine, 
And build smart cities, in the wilds 

Where Indian foot hath been. 

They go to win a lasting name 
For Yankees and the right, 

And show to "redskin," Dutch and Celt, 
Their shrewdness and their might ; 

To utilize the beautiful, 
The useful beautify ; 



THE YANKEE WESTWARD. 75 

The toiler's station, and his work, 
With art to dignify. 

They go to win achievements grand 

In all the arts of peace, 
And lead the van of progress, till 

Time's course at last shall cease. 

Fear not that in this boundlessness 

The Yankee will be lost, 
Though not the farthest western wild 

But his sure foot hath crossed. 

All that is sacred, fresh, or strong. 

In Plymouth Rock and shore, 
Transplanted in the widening West, 

Shall live for evermore. 



76 THE YANKEE WESTWARD. 

And so, Utopia realized, 
Our land shall be adored, 

Till all the kingdoms of the earth. 
Are kingdoms of the Lord. 



"TWO DECADES BRIGHT." 
'' I ^WO decades bright with blessings since 

We 'gan life's road together, 
And each to other promised faith 
In every sort of weather. 

With gratitude and joyfulness 

At good with which He crowned us, 

We look unto the Father high, 
And thank the friends around us. 

And here with them we offer prayers, 
That, through each coming season, 

Our friends and we abundantly 
Be blest with health and reason. 



78 " TWO DECADES BRIGHT." • 

And, that we have great things to say. 
We're minded first and chiefly, 

The words that speak and reach the heart 
Are spoken plain and briefly. 



CHICAGO'S TRIAL BY FIRE. 

^ I ''HE proudest city of tlie West 

In desolation laid, 
Chicago mourns her fortunes burned. 

Like gossamer they fade. 
The meager cot, the grand hotel. 

The depot and exchange, 
Are swept within the marching flame, 

Whose onward maddening range 

Devours a league of marble wealth. 
And brings to naught the great. 

At yester-eve who sat apart, 
Ensconced in princely state ; 



8o Chicago's trial by fire. 

And, musing on their large success. 
Planned larger wealth to gain ; 

But learn so soon, how sadly true, 
That human hopes are vain. 

Men of all stations hurry forth 

Rank now a thing unknown^ 
And 'scape, if so the flames permit. 

The fiery, widening, zone. 
Whose devastating sweep doth blot 

The grandest works of men ; 
As though the ancient Sodom scourge 

Had rained on earth again. 

Large pity for the desolate, 
And reverence for God, 



CHICAGO S TRIAL BY FIRE. 

Are lessons of this ordeal 
As spreads the news abroad. 

Then pour your wealth and comforts in 
To mend the losses made, 

And ask the Lord to bid the fire, 

" Let, here, thy waves be stayed." 

God's judgments are inscrutable, 

But wisely all designed ; 
Or fire, or flood, or pestilence. 

Or devastating wind. 
And grand the city shall arise 

From ruins of to-day ; 
And, in the future of the land. 

Hold on its prosperous way. 

Springfield, October 9, 1871. 
6 



"THE PAPER." 

T)E it the ponderous city print. 

Depicting urban ways, 
With columns crowded with details 

Of enterprise and frays ; 
Or, less pretentious and disturbed. 

The country weekly calm, 
Delighting well the villagers 

With sentences like balm ; 

It hath important mission, fraught 
With all that blesses earth, 

And often maps the surest road 
To usefulness and worth. 



"THE PAPER. 

It hath the ward of interests 

High, ev^er-during, great ; 
Minute as little hamlets are, 

And wide as is the state. 

The writer at his paragraphs, 

The printer working by ; 
I pray their health and happiness 

May never come to " pi ; " 
And that the sheet they print may live 

For many years to come. 
Prepaid, respected, and the light 

Of rail-car, 'Change and home. 



BE CHEERFUL EVER. 

T T seems to me we might better our lot, 

And lessen our ills by a half, 
By thinking them simply the sort of jokes 

To entertain with a laugh. 
When Benjamin Beau, so rich and polite. 

Weds the girl whose hand you had sought, 
Then seek for another and better than she, 

For still there are better uncaught. 

When Jones of your village is chosen to Court, 

And you remain out in the cold, 
Then laugh and be glad to think you've escaped 

The bickerings they have in the fold. 



BE CHEERFUL EVER. 85 

If, on fashionable streets, the bon ton 

Salute you with " never a nod," 
Be happy at heart, a nobleman still, 

Though doomed like a plebeian to plod. 

When Fate rules adverse in everything, 

Demolishing every plan ; 
To laugh is difficult, then, I'll admit. 

But glorious to laugh, if you can. 
Toil on contentedly, then, in your sphere, 

With sighing and scolding have done. 
For troubles are still productive of good, 

Albeit as curses they're known. 



IN ALL LABOR THERE IS PROFIT 



'T^HERE'S not a toiler on the earth 

But gains a good reward, 
The recognition of his worth, 



In blessings from the Lord. 



And only they whose idle hands 

Disdain the honest toil, 
In harvest sigh of barren lands, 

And lack for corn and oil. 

No matter what the work may be, 

If it be honest work ; 
To plow the land, or plow the sea. 

Or Christianize the Turk. 



IN ALL LABOR THERE IS PROFIT. 8/ 

But work with all thy might the day, 

And work with trusting heart ; 
Cast useless doubts and fears away, 

And act a manly part; 

For comes there still a blessed time 

When those who do and dare, 
Shall gain the bright and better clime; 

And there's no toiling there. 

And not beyond this world alone 

Accrue the joys to pay, 
For burdens borne and labors done, 

In this, our working day. 

But here we have abundant good, 
And choicest blessings given, 



IN ALL LABOR THERE IS PROFIT. 

Of earthly peace a plenitude, 
To indicate our heaven. 

Art thou of high or plebeian birth. 

Still sure is thy reward, 
If thou hast labored on the earth 

And trusted in the Lord. 

The poor distinctions made by men 

Are unessential there ; 
Our work and worth avail us then. 

And not the names we bear. 



AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

A CCEPT, selectest man I know, 
Who met my sadder years, 
And all unmindful of thy griefs, 

Was mindful of my tears ; 
Whose kindness, when but few were kind. 

And noble gentleness, 
Came so refreshingly to me. 
And royally did bless ; 

Accept the gratitude, too small, 

My heart would offer thee, 
For thine example and thine aid 

So freely granted me ; 



90 AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

The heartiest words and kindest deeds 

Wisely, but freely, given, 
Imparting to my bitterest hours 

A foretaste of my heaven. 

Once scorned by those whom I had blest, 

And doubted for my trust, 
My pleasant plans were broken all ; 

My hopes were in the dust. 
Then thou didst cheer me — blessed hour! 

And sacred be the spot. 
Till earth's ignoble men are both 

Forgiven and forgot. 



SHE PLACED THE BITTER SWEET." 

'' I ^O girlhood's home returning, 
She placed the bitter sweet 
Within the grand old mansion, 
Where sunbeams shadows meet; 

And modest said, "Henceforward 

Be kindness all my theme; 
With constant hand dispensing, 

The moments to redeem ; 

And teach, if I have suffered, 

I would the world be blest ; 
And pray, if I have struggled. 

The weary have good rest;" 



92 " SHE PLACED THE BITTER SWEET. 

Then thanked the Heavenly Father 
Who kept her name so sweet, 

That, through the bitter trials, 
Her ways were all discreet. 

The silver tresses mingling 
Her raven locks among 

Mean more than years, they index 
Her heart's own sorrows wrung; 

Of which most like she tells not, 

So reticent of grief; 
As most like she hath suffered 

Too deeply for belief. 

Beyond that first revealing 
She speaks not of her lot; 



" SHE PLACED THE BITTER SWEET. 93 

Praying her many sorrows 
By earth be all forgot. 

To girlhood's home returning 

She placed the bitter sweet, 
Within the grand old mansion, 

Where sunbeams shadows meet! 

This home by Hope be guarded; 

More sweet than bitter there; 
There pleasant sunshine linger. 

Dispelling clouds of care. 



WILLIAMSBURG. 

A TTEMPT the scene at Williamsburg, 
And paint that fearful day 
When friends, and families and towns 

Were sudden swept away. 
The eve before a peaceful sun 

Smiled on the valley green ; 
And happy sang Mill River, then, 

Meandering through the scene ! 

In mansion, and in cottage, peace ; 

At rest each busy mill ; 
All deemed they had good lease of life. 

And pleasant seasons, still. 
And all was peace at break of morn ; 

Men waked from happy dreams, 



WILLIAMSBURG. 95 

To hear the music of the birds, 
And warbling of the streams ! 

Yon slight pent mountain lake 'gan burst. 

To plunge the valley down ! 
A horseman rides in haste, to warn 

The nearest 'dangered town ! 
Then Hillman brave takes up the cry. 

And bravest Myron Day, 
"■ Ye people of the valley homes ! 

The flood ! Quick ! Haste away ! " 

Swift came the floods and blotted out 

A hundred homes and more ; 
And had not those swift couriers rode, 

There were a hundred score. 
But, heeding their prompt warnings given, 

To hillsides haste the throng ; 



96 WILLIAMSBURG. 

Yet many stay to be engulfed 
As sweeps the tide along ! 

The strong-built mills in atoms fall I 

And on the swollen tide, 
Large forest trees, houses and rocks 

In mixed destruction ride. 
And roars the torrent down the vale 

To do still further death ; 
And sweep still other, towns away 

With its devouring breath. 

In one brief hour the work is done ! 

And then the saddest scene 
That after wars, or wasting fires, 

On earth hath ever been. 
One wide destruction meets the eye ; 

On every hand the dead ; 



WILLIAMSBURG. 97 

Strong, sun-browned men weep like the child, 
And tremble with sore dread ! 

No time for words, no time for grief, 

No time for funeral train ; 
But, mid the wrecks and debris piles, 

All searching for the slain ; 
And all too sad to question why 

Was this destruction made, 
And ask on whom shall be the blame 

Of this great ruin laid. 

Mill River Valley desolate, 

Its fields and homes laid waste, 
Bears witness loud against the men 

Who built their walls in haste. 
As sad we gaze on Williamsburg, 

And mourn the lack of skill, 



98 WILLIAMSBURG. 

That cost so many precious lives 
And busy store and mill ; 

We'll vow eternal hate for fraud, 

And eschew lies and shams; 
Be honest in our daily lives, 

Nor order fragile dams. 
And if it be this sacrifice 

Shall make the people wise, 
To tone our weeping there might well 

Some gratitude arise ! 

God bless the men who rode to tell 

The coming of the flood ; 
And grant these heroes for their deeds 

Abundant days and good. 
May pleasant stars beam bright to bless 

Whose hands kind dressed the dead. 



WILLIAMSBURG. 99 

And freely for the rescued ones 
A prompt abundance spread. 

Brave pastor* of the stricken church, 

Serene 'mid peril's shock ; 
Industrious searching through the plain 

For loved ones of thy flock ; 
Good teacher of the Sunday class, 

Who beamed with grandest joy 
To welcome from the waves alive 

The much-loved manly boy ! 

And faithful lover, who, that morn, 

Left home in mountain street. 
To seek a valley cottage trim 

And his good sweetheart greet ; 

*Rev. J. F. Gleason. 



100 WILLIAMSBURG. 

Met news that Leeds was swept away, 

His dearest treasure gone, 
But, choking quick his mighty grief, 

Walked calm and rapid on ; 

Then eager searched for her remains, 

Wept tears when she was found. 
And silent stood to see her form 

Laid in the burial ground ; 
And fenced the cottage site, to keep, 

That none might ruthless tread. 
Where dawned his hopes, and where, at last, 

His pleasant hopes were dead ! 

And aged man, who mourned the loss 

Of silvered partner dear, 
But mingled truest bravery 

With every falling tear ; 



WILLIAMSBURG. lOI 

And all who ready did their best 

To mitigate the grief 
Of mourning hearts, and build therein 

Again, a bright belief 

That God would overrule in love 

This vast calamity, 
And make those direst ills we know 

Perpetual good to be — 
'Tis ye I reckon, and your like, 

Deserving hearty praise ; 
As bravest victors for the flag, 

Deserve the nation's bays. 



"FENCE UP THE WAY." 

"D IGHT careful with his roadsters, 

A traveler* down the way, 
Was driving through the valley, 
At close of wintry day; 

When on the high bridge passing 
It parted, thundering down ; 

Our traveler is sore wounded. 
The waves the roadsters drown ! 

Far in the night discovered, 
The men who roused him say, 

*Mr. Edward Moseley, Westfield, Mass. 



"fence up the way. 103 

Thus spoke his care for others, 
"Fence up the dangerous way!" 

And, this precaution taken. 

They bear him to an inn, 
Where, with his dawning reason, 

His questionings begin 

* About the steeds that pleased him. 
And quick his voice would tell. 
And swift, and strong, but gently, 
Would course the plain so well. 

Informed his pets were buried, 

His tender heart burst forth, 
'■'■ But they were my good darlings. 

And more than gold their worth!" 



104 "fence up the way. 

And through the days succeeding 
Friends watched his coming health, 

And mourned the bridge that wrecked him 
And spoiled his choicest wealth. 

Heaven grant we heed the warning, 
Our friends from wrong to stay; 

That they be not sore tempted, 
Fence up each dangerous way. 

And may all towns remember 
To make their bridges strong, 

That there be no more perils 
Like this we build in song. 



A WORD OF CHEER. 

TO A LADY, ON HER SEVENTY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY, 

/^^ OOD woman, wise, that thou hast Uved 

To cheer thy friends so long, 
Deserves full grander verse than this 
Brief offering of song. 



Thy days be pleasant till they close, 
And when thy sun fades west. 

Thine be an entrance through the gates, 
To meet the good and blest! 



4 



THEY MEET AGAIN. 

(scene in BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MASS.) 

i<T'LL greet my old-time lover; 
Come, brother, drive away, 
I'll greet my old-time lover, 
On this delightful day ! 

*'His home is 'mong these landscapes 
Where we the season keep; 

I know he'll greet me kindly, 
But will we joy or weep ? 

" Though sad and though unwedded, 
I'll be quite blithe to-day. 

And greet my old-time lover; 
Come, brother, drive away ! 



THEY MEET AGAIN. IO7 

" Ours be a pleasant meeting ; 

Our words be true and plain ; 
And ril be wise and chary 

To give his wife no pain." 

The roadsters knew their errand 

And grandly sped along, 
As sweep the waves of music 

In a majestic song. 

And at her brother's asking 

He nearcd the carriage side, 
To greet his old-time sweetheart 

Who had not been a bride. 

With earnest words and wishes 
That were not spoken loud, 



I08 THEY MEET AGAIN. 

And eyes a little tearful, 
And spirits far from proud ! 

They asked each other's welfare, 
And of old scenes and new ; 

And spoke of friends still living. 
And some beneath the yew ; 

Then bade adieu so bravely 
It was a scene to paint, 

Unmarred by foolish sighing 
Or plaint to match a plaint ! 

They wished each other blessing 
Through all the coming days ; 

And I, who sing, bespeak them 
Abundant cause for praise ! 



"NAY, 'TIS NOT THUS." 

A FRIEND, well wed, and happy now 
As when he took a husband's vow, 
Gives noble sanction to my verse, 
In asking that my pen rehearse 
A message, daily growing dear, 
Of olden love, and faith, and fear. 
Would all who love were wise as he 
Who speaks these tender thoughts to me, 
And true mate won with him to dwell 
By grandly saying, thus, farewell ! 
" Good-bye dear girl ; a kind good-bye ; 
I can not tell the reason why 
Thou canst refuse to bless my heart, 
And hope and cheerfulness impart. 



no "nay, 'tis not thus." 

Why is it thus ? why must it be ? 
That I no more may hope for thee. 
Nay, 'tis not thus; God rules not so; 
How adverse earth, what winds do blow. 
Still, for each one, He rules o'er all, 
Who sees the wounded sparrow fall. 
He sends as often joy as grief, 
. And for each woe vouchsafes relief; 
Designs, and brings, each dreaded ill, 
With sweetest joy our cup to fill. 
In this dear, trying, school of love 
Dissent, perchance, is meant to prove 
How much I love thee, and how well ; 
So thou thy heart may wisely tell. 
This being so, no more good-bye; 
Love brings me faith that tells me why; 
A blessed, high, perennial trust 
In thee as true, and God as just." 



THE BRIGHTER DAYS. 

A S, when the stormy day is o'er, 

The sunset sheds its golden store 
And as appears his native shore 
To sailor seeking home once more ; 
To soldier, at the campaign's close. 
The long wished furlough of repose — 
So, troubled one, shall be thy bliss, 
For brighter days shall follow this. 
So be thou brave and never faint; 
Propitious gods thy prayers and plaint 
Shall hear, and thee shall fully bless ; 
To serve thee, thy worst foes impress; 
Thou shalt have joy instead of grief. 



112 THE BRIGHTER DAYS. 

No shallow happiness nor brief; 

Thy nights shall glow with silver gleams ; 

Good angels visit thee in dreams ; 

Thy morning break with brightest beams, 

Along thy path sing happy streams. 

And soon successful thou shalt stand, 

Serene on Faith's safe table-land; 

On thee shall heavenly radiance shine 

And grand, inspiring, hopes be thine ! 



"IF EVERY ONE OBSERVED." 



TO 



r^ OOD friend, if every one observed 

The mandate to be kind ; 
If all were courteous as thyself, 

And helpfully inclined ; 
How bright a scene this earth would be, 

How light life's burdens prove; 
How blithe along life's rugged road 

Would pilgrims singing move ! 

Sweet resonance of sparkling streams 
Would bless life's desert drear ; 

And birds would sing, and flowers and fruit 
With fragrance fill the air ! 



114 "IF EVERY ONE OBSERVED." 

There is no overestimate 

Of kindness to our kind, 
And brightest stars will bless the man 

To courteous ways inclined ! 



"AND NUMBERED FORTY-SIX." 

READ AT THE REUNION OF THE 46TH MASSACHUSETTS. 

T)RAVE comrades, good, assembled, 

To talk about the past, 
How very brief the decade 

Since we had roll-call last ! 
How keen our recollection 

Of those September days, 
When, at the camp near Springfield, 

We took on soldier ways ! 

The railroad ride to Boston, 

And sailing down the bay, 
In those dear, damp, old transports ! 

Five storm-rocked days to stay ! 



Il6 "AND NUMBERED FORTY-SIX." 

The voyage down to Morehead ; 

The several Nevvbern camps; 
And all the dreary drilling, 

And all the Trent road tramps! 

The picket post at Newport; 

Our fears at Plymouth, when, 
The rebels, with their ship built, 

Would take the place again, 
But suffered so from Foster, 

At "little Washington," 
They trembled with great terror, 

And from the region run ! 

The Kingston fight, and Whitehall, 
The "Gum swamp" march and fight, 



"AND NUMBERED FORTV-SIX." II7 

And all we did and suffered 

In battling for the right, 
Against the southern foemen, 

In that rebellious land ; 
Till came a homeward order 

For our militia band! 

Although we were militia, 

And served less than a year, 
We gave the Johnny rebels. 

Abundant cause for fear. 
And, in the coming future. 

No shame with pride will mix. 
That we were Lincoln's soldiers, 

And numbered Forty-six! 

Now gone are camps and marches, 
And gone the battle's noise ; 



ii8 "and numbered forty-six." 

A song to "caps" and "lieuties," 
The chaplain and "the boys;" 

To our respected colonels, 
And our brave major, grand. 

And eke our brave, bright, adjutant, 
And all who bore a hand ! 

To Bryant and his dozen, 

Who held a thousand back ! 
When fierce along the Neuse road 

They followed on our track ! 
And held the post so bravely, 

The rebels feared brigades, 
And hasted from that presence 

When came the evening shades ! 

To all who did brave battle, 
Or died in camp or plain ! 



"AND NUMBERED FORTY-SIX." 

And all at home who, bravely, 
Endured bereavement's pain ! — 

The nation owes its honors, 
And we give hearty thanks ; 

Then cheer our dear old banner. 
And then be breaking ranks ! 

With hope the nation never 

See such another strife ; 
Such drafts upon our treasure. 

Such sacrifice of life. 
But should the rebel Southrons 

Repeat their treacherous tricks, 
The boys to meet and thrash 'em 

Are numbered Forty-six ! 



119 



OUR YANKEE LAND. 

/"^ OD bless the good New England hills ! 

And every valley there ; 
God bless the mountain lakes and brooks, 

And their salubrious air. 
And choicest blessings rest upon 

The people of those States ; 
God grant them pleasant skies above, 

With plenty at their gates. 

Prosperity attend their toil, 

In factory and field ; 
And may their skill with car and ship 

Abundant profit yield. 
May pestilence and famine spare 



OUR YANKEE LAND. 121 

This most delightful spot ; 
And distant be the day when crime 
Its history shall blot. 

Although appeareth sectional, 

To sing New England's praise, 
I point the nation's history, 

Through dark and prosperous days, 
For proof that our New England leads 

In national affairs. 
And, with ability and grit. 

The nation's burdens bears. 

So, then, full fearlessly, with joy. 

Whatever banner flaunt ; 
Do rebel Southrons greet with scorn, 

Or Britons with a taunt : 



122 OUR YANKEE LAND. 

We'll sing their name, whose head and heart, 

And never-faltering hand, 
Have well upheld the stars and stripes — 

God bless our Yankee land ! 

Oh could I be forgiven, did 

My heart not turn to thee, 
With gratitude and pride, dear land, 

For all thou art to me ! 
Thine atmosphere and scenery, 

Thy present, future, past ; 
Thy trials first, and glory now. 

To last while time shall last ? 

God bless the land where I w^as born. 

And played, a happy child, 
Ere yet I saw a Southern swamp. 



OUR YANKEE LAND. 

Or roamed a Western wild ; 
And where, within a cot among 

Our Massachusetts hills, 
My early being was attuned 

By cadence of the rills. 

And, in the future of my life. 

Where'er my pathway lies ; 
Whatever lot is meted out, 

Or kind, or cold my skies ; 
Still evermore, my song, at home, 

Or on a foreign strand, 
Through life, and at the honest hour — 

God bless our Yankee land ! 



123 



I 



THINE. 



TO W. F. C. 



'T^HINE be a pride in that grand state, 

Where ruled thy kindred well ; 
And where may all thy kith and kin 
In peace and safety dwell. 



Thine be ambition high to keep 

Select thy father's name, 
Within the town thy father built, 

And where he built his fame ; 

Wherein mayst thou have during peace, 
Good gains, true friends and home ; 



THINE. 

And where, for thee, if days be dark, 
Be brighter days to come. 

Thine be that most selectest bhss 

Among the joys of earth, 
The blessed consciousness they have. 

Who honor toihng worth. 

And find their words and timely deeds, 

From darkness and duress, 
Have cheered and led deserving men 

To sunlight and success ! 

Thine, then, shall be all earthly good ; 

For thee will constant shine 
Protecting stars, till death, and then 

May heavenly joys be thine! 



125 



AMONG THE LISBON HILLS." 



TO G. H. A. 



1\ /r Y noble friend, whose greeting kind 

Transforms the town, to me. 
From busy Babel, to a place 
Of fountain, flower, and tree ; 

From me bear words of cheer to her 

Who taught thee noble ways. 
And say T wish thy mother have 

Serenest sunset days 

In Lisbon village, 'mong the hills, 
Where erst she taught her boy 



"AMONG THE LISBON HILLS." 

In deeds of gentleness and trust 
To tind his highest joy ! 

And say I pray his noble ways 

Full many more may lead, 
Throughout their lives to bless their kind, 

By helpful word and deed. 

And tell to her my hopes to greet, 

If favoring heaven wills, 
The mother of my noble friend, 

Among the Lisbon hills. 



127 



"CONCERNING ONE YOU LOVE." 



TO E. A. W. 



"X/OU ask me, friend, for stanzas 

Concerning one you love; 
The angel of your dwelling, 
Companion and your dove ; 

An artist of rare merit, 

But versed in household cares; 
A woman whose kind counsel 

Aids all your own affairs ; 

A woman in whose presence 
Your heart is ever strong, 



"CONCERNING ONE YOU LOVE." 129 

And one you well might reckon 
Above the grandest song ! 

So, then, as you have deemed me 

Sufficient for the task, 
I speak her worth in numbers, 

As you were kind to ask ; 

And pray her skill in painting 

Bring praise and good reward, 
And both your lives be guarded 

By angels of the Lord. 



"OF THEE AND THINE." 



TO M. H. L. 



*' I ^HE thought of thee and thine doth cheer 
And aids that I the nobler be, 
And that thou boldest thine so dear, 
Enhances thee and thine to me : 

Thy mother, sweeter for her years ; 

A sister beaming with delight ; 
And with thee, one whom love endears, 

And clustering offspring good and bright ! 

And when thou tellest me, with pride, 
How nobly toiled thy mother, erst, 



"OF THEE AND THINE." I3I 

That her's with her might all abide ; 

And foiled with widow's hands the worst 

That fortune and false friends could do 
To break the circle of her home ; 

I glow with thee that she was true, 

And wish her bright, good years to come ! 



NO OTHER." 



TO ALICE 



/"^ OOD maiden, happy, sweet and bright, 
To home a constant, dear, delight; 
Like roses fragrant, pure and white, 
Preserve thyself. 

Do thou love birds, and flowers, and song ; 
And peaceful be thy life, and long ; 
And be he manly, true, and strong, 
Who wins thy heart. 

No other wouldst thou think to bless ; 
No other worthy thy caress ; 
With other, marriage worst duress, 
And constant scrief. 



"FOR THEE A SONG." 

EAR wife: amid the work that comes 
My absence to prolong, 
I take this bright and sunny hour 
To rhyme for thee a song. 

And thank thee for thy earnest prayers, 

That God hath answered well, 
In health, and hope, and many joys, 

I have not time to tell ; 

In friends who cheer me at my tasks, 

And pray that God will bless, 
And earnestly and constantly 

Desire me good success ; 



134 "for thee a song. 

In grit to work and to endure, 
And for success to wait; 

In faith that God will keep mc safe 
From every cruel fate ; 

In faith that God is always thine, 
And sends his angels near, 

To guard and guide the darling one 
Who holds my interests dear. 



ON CANTERBURY GREEN. 

(To Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Butts, good people from " Westminster Hill.") 

npHROUGHOUT the land, from east to west, 

No more inviting scene, 
Along the streams, and on the plains, 

And all the hills between, 
Than cheers the hearts of country folk 

On Canterbury Green. 

Good people still inhabit there, 

And thrift and peace are seen, 
As when, a hundred years ago. 

The pioneers, I ween. 
Broke turf on old Westminster Hill 

And Canterbury Green. 



I 



1T)6 ON CANTERBURY GREEN. 

Westminster neighbors are aware 
What ancient " meetings " mean ; 

And still there are two sermons given 
With " nooning " wedged between ! 

Within the church that yet remains 
On Canterbury Green. 

In spite of all, there lingers still, 

And ever will be seen, 
A sJiade at which "all hands" grew pale 

. And showed their foolish spleen ; 
Famed Prudence Crandall's negro school. 
On Canterbury Green. 

Far back in eighteen thirty-three, 
Town meetings fierce were seen 
Within the galleries of the church 



ON CANTEKliURY GREEN. 1 37 

On Canterbury Green ; 
Where Judson's men by vote declared 
Colored instniction mean I 

Although the school was broken up, 
Tl"ie "cause " good progress made, 

And now the Canterbury folk, 
Of every name and grade, 

Desire their parents' foolish ways 
From memory to fade. 

While on the banner of the land 

The stars and stripes arc seen, 
May Canterbury folk have peace. 

And keep their record clean, 
And everybody speak good words 

Of Canterbury Green. 



"TOO MANY HEARTS ARE SAD TO-NIGHT. 

'' I "OO many hearts are sad to-night, 
I may not dance to music light. 
They're sad from hunger and from pain, 
And sad from sin's polluthig stain. 
Low down in cellars, up the stairs, 
Where freely pass the winter airs ; 
'Neath wretched shed, and in the street, 
Where pelt the piercing storms of sleet. 
Arc pallid cheek, and sunken eyes, 
And forms that never more may rise. 
I may not dance to music light, 
Too many hearts are sad to-night. 
But some will wake, if touched aright, 



"TOO MANY HEARTS ARE SAD TO-NIGHT. I39 

To noble purpose and brave deed, 
And grandly with their duty speed, 
Achieving full, complete success, 
While all the world, admiring, bless. 
All this, if, now, one word, aright. 
While you may skip to music light, 
I speak to cheer them for the fight. 
Too many hearts are sad to-night ; 
I may not dance to music light. 



"OUR NORTHERN ROUTE." 

T N joyous spring or winter cold, 

And in the autumn sun, 
The trains upon our northern route 



With good success are run. 



And, bound to Methodistic camp, 

Or going mountainward, 
On picnics bent, or politics. 

The people with accord 

Declare they like the " River Road,' 

Its managers and men ; 
And when they wish another ride, 

They'll try that route again. 



BARNESVILLE, 



TO 

MR. ELIJAH S. GREENE, 

my father, 

In Remembrance of his Solicitude for my Welfare, and in 
Admiration of his Courage shown in a Life- 
long Struggle with Adversity, 

I Dedicate 
"BARNESVILLE." 

In this centennial year of the nation which his ancestors fought in the 
Revolutionary army to establish, and to the salvation of which, in 
its latest great peril of the southern slaveholders' rebel- 
lion, he contributed by prayers, unheard by men, 
but heard and answered of heaven in the tri- 
umph of the national arms against the 
rebels, and by his counsel to Abra- 
ham Lincoln, which the pres- 
ident copied in his two 
most important state 
papers. 



ELNATHAN BARNES. 

'' I ^O ancient Barnesville glad revert. 

Bid present times good-by ; 
The faces and the scenes of Eld, 
Let memory bring them nigh: 

The autumn woods, and golden maize. 
And old Thanksgiving day ! 

The winter wood-pile at the door, 
And drifts that choked the way ! 

Strict Sundays at the hill-top church ; 

Staid deacons in their pews ; 
The preacher, at his lofty perch, 

Discoursing gospel news ! 



144 ELNATHAN BARNES. 

Brown school-house near the beechen grove ; 

The neighboring lumber mill ; 
The home-made hand-sled, and the joys 

Of coasting down the hill ! 

The old-time worthies of the place 

Let us in numbers tell; 
Ascended some, and other some, 

Who still in Barnesville dwell. 

Elnathan Barnes of Barnesville, now, 

Is very old and gray ; 
But still he moves about the town 

In quite a lively way. 

His face is radiant with smiles, 
His heart is warm and true; 



ELNATHAN BARNES. 

His neighbors all respect the man, 
His enemies are few. 

Though humble, Barnes has self-esteem, 

And pride of family ; 
And, though the Barneses erst were poor, 

They have great history. 

Two did brave deeds on Bunker Hill, 

And honorable scars 
The Barneses have acquired in all 

The country's later wars. 

Elnathan has a green old age, 

And I propose this rhyme, 
To publish, in this selfish age, 

That, in the good old time, 



H5 



146 ELNATHAN BARNES. 

Lived one who had supply, because 
He shared his loaf and cup; 

And rose to competence and fame 
By lifting others up ! 

The town was a mere hamlet once, 
A neighborhood of farms ; 

No noise of mill or railway trains 
Disturbed its rural charms ! 

Elnathan, even with the rest, 
Kept to his daily rounds ; 

An unambitious man, content 
With rural tasks and bounds. 

But, that Elnathan trouble had, 
These stanzas must declare ; 



ELNATHAN BARNES. I47 

And, Strange to say, ii; chiefly rose 
About his proper prayer. 

The church far on the "center" hill 

Within the valley place, 
The school-house prayer at "candle light" 

The only means of grace. 

Elnathan there would " occupy," 

And briefly speak and pray, 
Addressing prayers to heavenly powers 

In a becoming way. 

Although discreet his words and deeds, 

His neighbors, jealous, " vowed, 
Elnathan will be humbled, sure. 

For he is growing proud ! " 



148 ELNATHAN BARNES. 

That one in humble circumstance 
Should have his grammar good ! 

Was inconsistency which they 
Had never understood ! 

But soon these neighbors were sore sick 
And Barnes came kind to them, 

To pour a cordial, and to ask, 
If, in the Savior's name. 

He might petition that the Lord 
Spare them from threatened death ; 

With tears they begged, in their behalf, 
His supplicating breath ! 

Elnathan's prayer at last prevailed ; 
His neighbors were restored ; 



1 



ELNATHAN BARNES. I49 

Elnathan used choice language still, 
When he addressed the Lord ! 

When Barnesville had no rain he prayed, 

And showers came gentle down ; 
And trees with fruit, and fields with flowers, 

The Lord, for Barnes, did crown ! 

From sin he prayed his friends be spared ; 

From sin they all were kept ; 
He prayed that grieving ones have joy, 

And they no longer wept ! 

It is not true humility 

To boast one's power with God, 
And Barnes evinced no eagerness 

To trump his prayers abroad. 



150 ELNATHAN BARNES. 

Yet Lincoln's friends heard of his faith, 
And asked that Barnes should pray 

That Lincoln be the winning man 
Upon election day. 

And Barnesville folk believe his prayers 
Helped that grand struggle through ; 

And further, for this faithful man, 
I know this much is true, 

With humble mind, and vision clear, 

Direct and brief of speech, 
Barnes sent great Lincoln message plain, 

With no attempt to teach. 

And Lincoln used Elnathan's plans 
To make the foemen flee, 



ELNATHAN BARNES. I5I 

Uphold the honor of the flag, 
And set the bondmen free. 

His wife is tender to the poor, 

And happy in her cares 
As though the angels made her calls 

And she breathed Eden's airs ! 

She came from higher rank than Barnes, 

It made much social fuss ; 
For 'tis not "mode" with upper ten 

That girls should marry thus. 

But wed she would the homespun man, 

And, since that happy day 
A half a century of bliss 

Rewards his gallant way. 



152 ELNATHAN BARNES. 

Barnes does not care for politics ; 

Yet once was candidate, 
And led all tickets in the field ; 

When Barnes's friends, elate, 

Gave ample banquet to his name, 
And Barnesville brave and fair 

Petitioned for a wifely speech, 
Since Mrs. Barnes was there. 

She promptly rose and modest said 
" If husband once begins, 

The other suitors come to find 
Elnathan always wins ! " 

Our Barnes's life does not consist 
Alone in sentiment; 



ELNATHAN BARNES. I 53 

To think kind thoughts, and say good words, 
His heart is not content. 

When votes are wanted for the right, 

Or money for the poor, 
Or struggling ones desire to find 

Themselves an open door ; 

Wherever pain to be relieved, 

Or sickness, wanting care, 
Or flagrant sin to be rebuked, 

Elnathan Barnes is there ! 

With growth of Barnesville, Barnes's lands 

Were sold at a great gain ; 
Yet with this pleasant luck our Barnes 

Was modest, strong, and plain. 



154 ELNATHAN BARNES. 

Two governors name Barnes their friend, 
Six statesmen send their cards ; 

And frequently a merchant prince 
Vouchsafes his kind regards. 

These special, sincere, favors shown, 
I deemed some secret kept ; 

And Barnes replied in broken tones, 
As tears of joy he wept, 

"Who lifts and cheers his fellow-man, 
His lands will see no dearth ; 

And he with joy shall walk among 
The nobles of the earth ! " 

Half of the Barnesville 'people are 
Elnathan's relatives ; 



ELNATHAN BARNES. I 55 

One drives a mammoth lumber mill, 
And one tough physic gives ! 

Two thrive in mercantile concerns, 

One for the railway cares ; 
One preaches well, and one is versed 

In custom house affairs. 

The Barnesville sheriff is a Barnes, 

And Barneses, I opine, 
Have " cherished hopes," as who has not, 

As governor to shine ! 



THE SUNDAY TEACHER. 

^Tp'HE Barnesville Sunday teacher, wise, 
Is gone, whose face for years 

Glowed at recital of my joys, 
And saddened at my tears ; 

Dear Hiram Barnes, that noble man, 

Considerate and good ! 
Whose manly ways showed well that he 

My nature understood ! 

On Sunday noon, the preaching done. 

And benediction said, 
The class, assembled in his pew. 

The " word " together read. 



THE SUNDAY TEACHER. 1 57 

And wise remarks the teacher made, 

That angel of my youth ; 
If pointedly, yet tenderly, 

To carry home the truth ! 

And fragrant will the memory be, 

Of that devoted friend. 
When Barnesville and all other towns 

In nothingness shall end ! 



JOHN CARLTON. 

A BRAVE man is John Carlton, 
Who runs the night express, 
And one the brightest angels 
Delight to gfuard and bless. 



And noble is the woman 

Who shares John Carlton's joys ; 
And bore, to bless his brave heart, 

Four bright-eyed girls and boys. 

It was by gallant action 

He won his lady's heart ; 

Not by a wealth of presents, 
Nor by the courtier's art. 



JOHN CARLTON. 1 59 

He was a homely rustic, 

Of twenty years, or so, 
A brakeman on the night train, 

A score of years ago. 

The man who then commanded 

Was cowardly and vile ; 
And used his place and cunning, 

The sinless to beguile. 

And with some sporting fellows, 

By praise of voice and curl, 
To ride upon the night train. 

Had lured a bright-eyed girl. 

They whispered basest insult, 

That brought a blush of shame : 



l6o JOHN CARLTON. 

John Carlton saw her peril, 

His eyes with wrath aflame ! 

And as they neared the station, 
And seized to lead away, 

And she, in wildest terror. 
Began to weep and pray, 

John Carlton's quick blows felled them, 
Conductor and his crew, 
And opening the car door 

He thrust the villains through. 

The passengers applauded, 

And they who owned the road. 

Assembled at headquarters, 
Official praise bestowed. 



JOHN CARLTON. l6l 

John Carlton was appointed 

The chief man of the train, 
With orders, if it need be, 

To act as brave again. 

A year from this occurrence, 

John Carlton claimed the heart 

He earned by gallant action, 
Above the courtier's art. 

Her parents gave them blessing, 
And wished them golden days, 

And I wish all would copy 
John Carlton's noble ways. 



THE JOURNALIST. 

|F all the news quick knowing, 
Our journalistic man, 
Occurrences to gather, 
Has very happy plan. 

And all the trains incoming 

Bear missives filled with news 

Of governors' elections, 

And renting parish pews ; 

Discussions of the State assemblies 
Proceedings of the courts, 

A college boy's orations, 

And his aquatic sports ; 



I 



THE JOURNALIST. 163 

The business of the rail-roads, 

And accidents by rail ; 
The sending men to congress, 

And sending men to jail ! 

The latest star in painting, 

And newest one that sings ; 
The robbing on the highways, 

And robbing by " the rings ;" 

The floods that whelm the vallies, 

And fires that scorch the earth; 
Good augury of plenty, 

And signs of coming dearth ; 

The weddings and divorces, 

Each large and little strife, — 



164 THE JOURNALIST. 

And all the joys and sorrows 
Of this eventful life ! 

Of all the news quick knowing, 
Our journalistic man, 

Occurrences to gather 

Has very happy plan ! 



THE WICKED. 

'~1~^HE simple truth compels to say 
Barnesville has wicked men ; 

We pray that when they pass from earth 
Their like come not again ! 

One has a special greed for claims 

And steals his neighbors' lands ; , 

An undertaker joys to have 

Fresh orders on his hands ! 

A scrub attorney gloats o'er feuds 
That aid his meager fees ! 

And gossips glib, take keen delight 
To fan a social breeze ! 



1 66 THE WICKED. 

Still, Barnesville is by heaven vouchsafed 

Prosperity and peace, — 
In all that 's pleasant, through all days, 

May that good town increase ! 



I 



SATIRES. 



THE CRITICS. 

^TT^HE wicked wish some critics have. 
And knack, and greed to kill, 

May pass quite readily for taste, 
And evidence of skill ! 

But were there none to write a rhyme. 

Or paragraph of prose, 
How critics then would pass their time. 

Is more than mortal knows. 

They might ascend the upper spheres 

And criticise the stars, 
And teach good manners and good sense 

To Jupiter and Mars : 



170 THE CRITICS. 

Then clip away old Saturn's rings, 
And set him bounds to run ; 

Or venture near the solar fires 
To regulate the sun. 

And should these critics go to Heaven, 

Their joy would be to tell 
How saints might tune their harps correct, 

And sing hosannas well ! 



THE ALLOPATHS. 

T WISH that all the allopaths 
Had all their sins forgiven, 
And were translated from the earth 
To highest seats in Heaven ! 

And all their books of medicine, 
And all the drugs they mix 

Were ferried far, and finally 
Beyond the river Styx ! 

The pleasant herbs that healthful grow 

On every happy hill, 
God has ordained to aid the sick, 

And calomel will kill. 



1/2 THE ALLOPATHS. 

May light be given with coming years, 
And mild " botanies " rule ; 

And only history record, 

There was another school ! 



MY LITANY. 

T?ROM mushroom mayors of little towns 

With vanity inflated, 
Whose worth by citizens and self 

Is vastly overrated ; 

From wordy politicians, bent 

On making a sensation ; 
From chance-made governors of states, 

Who don't deserve the station ; 

From officers who go to war 

To dangle swords about 'em, 

And eye the enemy from far, 
But never try to rout 'em ; 



174 MY LITANY. 

From men imbued with siiam reforms, 
And anxious to be teachers ; 

From puppet pulpiteers, in place 
Of able men for preachers ; 

From men who prove supremely small 
When you had thought them royal ; 

From citizens who traitors turn, 
When they 're expected loyal — 

From such as these, good Lord, defend, 

And graciously deliver, 
And send us manly men instead. 

And we will praise Thee ever ! 



THE DEAD DOUGHERTY. 

T ET Erin weep ; my Bridget's dead ! " 

Said Dougherty, one day ; 
" Ye Celtic braves bewail her all, 

And Priest O'Connor pray. 
Then round the corpse, for carnival, 

Assemble with your wine, 
To mark her exit from the world 

With drunkenness divine ! 

" The Yankee Puritans may rate 

Such obsequies as sin, 
But Irishmen have special right 

To aid their grief with gin ! 



176 THE DEAD DOUGHERTY. 

So light the candles for the dead 
And drink unto her joy, 

That she may safely pass where hell 
Can never more annoy ! 

" Brave is the way the Irish die, 
And grand the funeral rite 

Where sober men are not allowed, 
Nor those afraid to fight ! 

Hit hard and sharp my lively lads, 
A glorious battle make ; 

Then drink again, and swear and fight- 
Such is the Irish wake ! " 



THE IMPERIAL. 

TMPERIAL moves the lofty John 
Along the village street, 

His head in pain from hitting stars, 
While boys with laughter greet 

His supercilious presence cold, 
And manners of the sky ; 

The common folk award him space, 
And dogs his coming fly ! 

Proud peacocks, jealous of his style, 
Have much discussed a plan 

To rid themselves, and rid the earth, 
Of this sublimest man ! 



178 THE IMPERIAL. 

May heavenly powers their hatred thwart, 

And cool their mighty ire, 
Spare him from griefs of common men, 

And from the final fire ! 

Give him above a lofty seat, 

And caution Gabriel well 
To quench such jealousy as plunged 

Prince Lucifer to hell — 

Old Lucifer, who fell from power 

At less offending pride 
Than that by which, when John shall rise, 

Good Gabriel will be tried ! 



A PLEASANT GROUP. 



TO 

E. L. M., AND HER FRIENDS, 

THIS VERSE, ANENT THAT 



"pleasant group" 



OF EXCELLENT LADIES, 



IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



" COME, HAPPY BIRD. " 

/~^OME, happy bird of sweetest note, 
Bright bird of bhthest wing, 

Of one who close resembles thee, 
Thy choicest matin sing. 

She charms her home as thou thy bower 
With liquid warblings sweet, 

And marks each hour with sincere words 
And winsome ways discreet. 

Her smiles and songs as free as air 

Are decorous and coy ; 
No cloud remains to those she cheers 

With her perennial joy. 

Sing, bird, so bravely and so well, 
That one who seeks her hand 



l82 "COME, HAPPY BIRD." 

Shall be inspired to speak and act 
The bravest in the land ! 

For only thus shall he attain 

To favor in her eyes 
Who but withholds, that he may win, 

What he esteems a prize ; 

While hers is modest estimate 
Of worth she may possess ; 

As thine, sweet warbler, of thy songs 
His listening ears that bless. 

Come happy bird of sweetest note 
Bright bird of blithest wing, 

Of one who close resembles thee 
Thy choicest matin sing. 



FOR WORDS SELECT. 

TVyTAIDEN discreet, I give thee praise 
For words select and comely ways, 
And wish thee many joyous days, 
And worthy friends. 

May Honor win, by grand address. 
The blissful good of thy caress, 
And True Love come, thy heart to bless, 
And Hope to cheer. 

For all like thee discreetly kind 
May every cloud be silver-lined ; 
For them be thornless roses twined, 
And eversrreen ! 



THE BRIGHT AND WISE. 

/^ BLEST with innocence and health, 
And wisdom far above thy years, 

Who hast not felt heart-rending griefs 
Nor wept the bitter, scalding tears,— 

Thou prized by all the excellent. 

And light of every village home 

Where friendship welcomes thee to call 
Or mercy bids thee helpful come, — 

Exquisite maiden, whose bright ways 

Are pride of her who did thee bear, 

And who these years, with widow's hands 
Hath nurtured thee with fondest care,- 



THE BRIGHT AND WISE. 1 85 

Prize thou thyself, thy mother prize, 

Thy home and all its quiet joys ; 
And keep thee, much as in thee lies, 

From earth's frivolity and noise. 

Cherish the gift of thy good sense, 

And earnest bravery to keep 
Thy soul from all that causes shame 

And makes the watching angels weep I 

For thee God grant the kindest skies. 
For thee sincerest noblest friends ; 

For thee all earth's substantial good, 

And heaven, when earth's ordeal ends. 

For him whose worth deserves thy heart, 

And whose brave ways thy heart shall win ; 



1 86 THE BRIGHT AND WISE. 

May brightest stars benignant beam, 
For him and all his noble kin. 

O blest with innocence and health, 
And wisdom far above thy years, 

Thy heart be long unknown to grief, 

And long thine eyes unknown to tears ! 



f 



" SERENEST STAR. " 

QERENEST star thy radiance shed 
For one of highest worth, 

A lady whose grand ways speak more 
Of heaven than of the earth ; 

And earth transform to be so Hke 
To heaven, that it seems 

To be not earth, but Eden's bovvers, 
And meads, and singing streams ! 

She is unconscious of her worth 

And excellences rare, 
Which speak her of the royal kin 

That few but angels share. 



" SERENEST STAR. 

While fully fitted for the skies, 

She is content to wait 
And work to bless this world of want, 

And reach her heaven late ! 

Serenest star, thy beams find not, 

In any clime of earth, 
More pure unselfishness than this. 

Nor more exalted worth. 



"WHERE FLOWERS BLOOM." 

T) RIGHT maiden of the noble heart, 

Good angels thee defend ; 
High joys be thine, and happy Hope 

Inspiring influence lend. 

Where flowers bloom, and brooklets sing, 
And pleasant sunbeams come ; 

Where peace shall be, and plenty dwell, 
I wish for thee a home 

With one of gentleness and grit, 
So manly, grand and strong, 

His life with thine shall harmonize 
Like blending notes of sons: ! 



"THE STARS HAVE HEARD." 

T?ULL oft the stars have heard thee say 
Thou thinkst him grand and true, 

Yet never hadst thou dared to hope 
That he would love thee too. 

To thee unconscious of thy charms, 
Unthinking of thy worth, * 

'Twas wonder that for him thy love 
Should make a heaven of earth. 

Thou winsome one, sincere and sweet, 
So frank, and yet so coy, — 

If strange it seems, yet 'tis not strange 
Thy love should give him joy ! 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



GRAND OLD GREENFIELD. 

* I ''HIS fine old shire of Franklin, 

This Deerfield valley gem, 
This home of grandest people 

Has one thing to condemn, — 
The witching wine-cup curses 

With darkness and distress ; 
But honor's pledges honored 

Will brighten and will bless 
This fine old shire of Franklin, 

This Deerfield valley gem, 
Where dwell the grandest people — 

With one thins: to condemn ! 



194 GRAND OLD GREENFIELD, 

These workers for the people 

And servants of the Lord, 
To labor here in Franklin 

Good welcome we accord — 
Welcome to grand old Greenfield, 

This Deerfield valley gem, 
Where dwell the grandest people 

With one thing to condemn ! 
Where, with humane endeavor, 

Wise, earnest, and with hope, 
Shall be no more remaining 

The most accursed cup ! 

Then, in their noble mission, 
These servants of the Lord, 

To labor here in Franklin, 

Full welcome we accord — 



GRAND OLD GREENFIELD. I95 

To raise and cheer the fallen 

And point the way aright 
From bondage into freedom, 

From darkness to the light, 
Until in grand old Greenfield, 

This Dccrfield valley gem, 
This home of noblest people 

There's nothin<2: to condemn ! 



"EARTH'S BRIGHTEST STAR." 

(Respectfully inscribed to Mr. and Mrs. Albert Montague op Sun- 
derland.) 

^^^ OD blesses most the men whose hearts 

With khid emotions burn ; 
More than they bless their fellow-men 

He honors them in turn. 

The greatest kindness we can do, 
Of which there needs the most, 

Is living so heart-worried ones 
Can come to us for trust. 

'Tis royal to believe in men ; 
It lifts us out earth's dust ; 



" EARTH S BRIGHTEST STAR. I97 

The man we trust a man to be 
We make the man we trust ! 

Faith is the sun succeeding storm ; 

Spring, after Winter's blast ; 
Heaven's health and peace when plague 

And pestilence are past ; 

Sweet, joy-inspiring airs, to chase 

The desert's torrid breath ; 
Verdure and singing birds, in place 

Of barrenness and death. 

Faith is earth's brightest star of hope, 

Salvation and its cause, 
The dispensation following 

The prophets and the laws — 



198 " earth's brightest star. " 

The newer and the better way, 
Proclaimed by angel song ; 

The dawn at night whose light extends 
The centuries along ! 

And, doubtless, in the upper realm, 
Where ransomed people be. 

Our trust on earth shall shine, an orb 
To light eternity ! 



A SILVER DAY. 

'TT^HE silver bells a merry peal 
Ring forth, with joy, to-night, 

The anniversary to tell 

Of that occasion bright, 

When, twenty years, and five, ago, 
Were wed this worthy pair ; 

To walk the various road of life, 
Or bleak their skies, or fair. 

And, kept by providential care. 

They reach this pleasant scene. 

Where friends present their silver gifts 
And hang the evergreen ! 



200 A SILVER DAY. 

Here kindred come, to keep the day ; 

And clustering children, here ; 
And thoughtful neighbors, with good deeds, 

And sincere words, are here ! 

O blessed friendship, noble, grand, 

That prompts the kindness shown 

To signalize this silver day, 

And bind these hearts as one ! 



THE BAY STATE'S FORTY-SECOND." 

'IXT'HEN, erst, the nation was besieged 

By armed rebellious foemen, 
And peace had fled, and skies were dark 

With every direful omen ; 
And Lincoln, from the capitol, 

For aid so wishful beckoned, 
Not least among the men to march 

The Bay state's Forty-second ! 

Now that the din of war is done, 
And glad the war cloud 's risen, 

They come with thought of camp and field, 
And of the rebel prison ! 



202 THE BAY STATES FORTY-SECOND. 

They gather here for hearty words, 
In kindly interest spoken 

To make the bands of friendship strong 
That never may be broken ! 



Should Treason arm again its hosts, 

To fill the land with trouble, 
Her deepest schemes of ill would prove 

An evanescent bubble ; 
For Burrill's men would rally all. 

And march, with others like them. 
To capture quick the forts and guns 

And ever more to spike them. 

And wishing you much earthly joy, 
And entrance late to heaven, 



THE BAY STATES FORTY-SECOND. 203 

I speak this sincere offering 

In rythmic numbers given, 
By one who deems it pleasant fame 

That he is welcome reckoned, 
A member in good standing with 

The Bay state's Forty-second ! 



BERKSHIRE SCENES. 

TXT" HEN next the heated term returns, 
And high the summer solstice burns, 
Our hearts shall find supreme delight 
In breezes on some Berkshire hight ; 
And neither shall our visit fail 
In Housatonic's pleasant vale, 
Where days shall peaceful come and go 
As star-strewn streams of dreamland flow. 
When Lenox and its lakes are done 
Our coach shall drive to Barrington, 
The home of cultured men of note, 
The fine old town where Bryant wrote ; 
Where urban folk the season pass 
Amid the maples and the grass ; 



BERKSHIRE SCENES. 2O5 

Where finely alternated scene, 
Of furrowed field and meadows green ; 
Where mountains grand, and valleys fair, 
And broad estates, preserved with care ; 
Where bright cascades and healthful springs 
Make fit resort for noblest kings. 



A GOLDEN DAY. 

TV /TOST joyous day when kindred, good, 

And old acquaintance dear. 
Assemble with fit tokens, kind, 

And words of hearty cheer, 

To greet and bless the aged pair 

Who fifty years ago, 
Took vows to share each other's lot, 

Or be it joy or woe. 

Ye silvered ones, as yc review 

These fifty toilsome years, 
How brief appear their flitting scenes 

Of varied joys and tears ! 



A GOLDEN DAY. 207 

And yet, with grandest meaning fraught, 

Was golden every day, 
With rest for all the toil, and sun 

To drive each cloud away. 

And, grateful that good Providence 

Hath kept you hitherto. 
We pray the angels guard your steps 

The earthly journey through. 



NOTE. 

It has been supposed by many that the " Smithville Worthies" 
described in " Rhymes of Yankee Land " were painted principally 
from residents of a village in the extreme western border of Hamp- 
den County, Massachusetts. But such is not the fact; though the 
originals of the "sinners" described lived there. The "brainless, 
brassy brag " pictured means a former merchant of the village, and 
a rich, tyrannical and self righteous citizen of the place "sat" for 
the portrait of " Abijah Beers," a combination of cruelty and mean- 
ness, above whose grave "thistles thrive." "Crispin Crane," whose 
ready wit earned him an election to the legislature, doubtless repre- 
sents an old gentleman in a neighboring Berkshire town locally 
noted for his terse, bright sayings. The much-esteemed late George 
B. Morris, of Springfield, for years clerk of the courts for Hamp- 
den county, furnished the features in the picture of " the long tried 
county clerk," a central figure of the court group introduced in the 
narration of Crane's experience as juror; and the magistrate, "po- 
lite and prompt," presiding at that term, resembled Judge J. P. Put- 



2IO NOTE. 

nam of the Massachusetts Superior Court. " The Yankee West- 
ward " meant and means a worthy citizen and enterprising and suc- 
cessful business man, well known at the West, Hon. Francis E. 
Warren, of Cheyenne, a native of Hinsdale, in the same mountainous 
section of Massachusetts that produced Henry L. Dawes, Edwin D. 
Morgan, Gen. James C. Rice, William Cullen Bryant, and other 
great and successful Americans. " A tribute " is paid to an elderly 
lady of Springfield, recently deceased, and whose life was a pattern 
of wisdom and godliness ; and a grateful " acknowledgment " is 
made to a distinguished gentleman formerly of Springfield, for 
timely and wise words of counsel and encouragement. 

In writing the poems added in the present edition, the author 
doubtless had in mind still other persons and places in Western 
Massachusetts. Some of the touching scenes of the Mill River 
flood have brief mention in the poem, " Williamsburg," and " Fence 
up the Way," was suggested by the self forgetfulness and noble care 
for others manifested by Mr. Edward Moseley, of Westfield, when 
found severely injured in the ruins of a fallen bridge at Hatfield, in 
March, 1874. The mother of this unselfish man is the lady to 
whom the word of cheer was addressed on her seventy-sixth birth- 
day anniversary. A returned Berkshire captain is the " old-time 
lover " eulogized for his manliness. 

Silence is appropriate in reference to the name and the residence 



NOTE. 2 1 1 

of the noble woman who, after great trials, returned to the " grand 
old mansion " of her youth, " placed the bitter sweet " as emblem 
of her sufferings and the good she proposed to do for others, and 
" reticent of grief," made no mention of her troubles " beyond a first 
revealing." The original of the picture might have been a woman of 
talent and excellence, toiling in a paper mill at Holyoke to earn 
support denied by a gambling husband ; or an elderly lady driven 
by an unfilial son and his wife from a much-loved and well-earned 
home at Suffield, Conn. ; or a brave, good woman returning to her 
girlhood's home in Hampshire county from a search for a long-absent 
husband, to whose house, at the South, she was refused admittance 
by a new wife of her own faithless lord ! But let the name and the 
home of the real heroine of the poem be unpronounced in an in- 
quisitive and inconsiderate world ! 

The poem " And Numbered Forty-Six," was read at the first re- 
union of the Forty-Sixth Massachusetts, a regiment that served with 
credit in defense of the nation against the " rebel southrons." Of 
this battalion, William S. Shurtleff, of Springfield, Mass., and L. B. 
Walkley, of Westfield, were the colonels ; Samuel B. Spooner, of 
Springfield, was major, and James G. Smith, of Holyoke, adjutant. 
The brave man who, with a dozen comrades, "held a thousand back," 
is Mr. A. S. Bryant of Springfield and the Boston and Albany Rail- 
road, who was a member of Company A with the rank of sergeant, 



212 NOTE. 

and at the time mentioned was detailed on picket on the Neuse 
Road, at a bridge one mile out from the outpost at "Batcheller's 
Creek, N. C." At Batcheller's the Company were stationed. Captain 
Lewis A. Tifft commanding. The rebels on their march, by that route, 
to recapture Newbern, came, one afternoon, upon Bryant, with ten 
times his numbers. He bravely repelled their fierce attack and held 
the bridge. Company A subsequently came up ; and the whole band, 
numbering not over fifty, remained all night on their arms. The enemy 
supposed that behind this handful of soldiers was massed the whole 
Union army, and at night retreated and relinquished their attempt to 
take the city. In recognition of his bravery at the bridge, a medal of 
honor was awarded by " The Congress to Sergeant A. S. Bryant." 

The noble traits of an upright and chivalrous man, native of New 
Hampshire, and blessed with a happy home in New Jersey, are traced 
to the wise teachings and healthful example of his mother, who resides 
in a charming village "Among the Lisbon Hills." " Thee and Thine " 
speaks of the sweetness and worth of a lady, now silvered with age, 
whose heroisms in earning " with widow's hands " a support for a 
large family of children are worthy the highest praise. The excellen- 
cies of " Elnathan Barnes " remind the reader of a quiet, thinking, 
prayerful man, native of Brookfield and resident in Berkshire, whose 
wise, laconic sayings will ever be fragrant in the memory of his kind- 
red. But in making up an ideal, authors frequently avail themselves 
of the features of several originals ; and in allusion to the political 



NOTE. 213 

experience of " Elnathan Barnes," the writer had reference, no doubt, 
to that memorable contest of several years ago, in the " Second Frank- 
lin Districi," — more exciting than any presidential campaign, — which 
culminated in defeating a demagogue and electing to the legislature 
that public spirited citizen and respected magistrate, Mr. Albert 
Montague. The demonstration in celebrating this success at the 
Sunderland town hall was attended by a multitude, and was as joyous 
an occasion as was ever witnessed in that fine old town, or in the 

whole Massachusetts section of the valley, from Longmeadow, with 
its famous May breakfasts, to Bernardston, where Nahum S. Cutler, 
and his like, do so much to make old " Fall town " the charming place 
it is — in this most delightful section of New England, filled with nooks 
of historic and romantic interest, and threaded by that well-managed 

''northern route," the Connecticut River railroad, whose every mile 
is marked by some celebration, and whose every train has borne tens 
of thousands of people to and from memorable occasions. 

An editor who once worked in Springfield, is anxious not to have it 
said that he sat for the portrait of " that lofty John." whose head is 
" in pain from hitting stars." Another person similiarly anxious con- 
cerning the same picture, is a would be artist, whose wretched daubing 
will make " abundant sport to after days." Others affirm that the 
original is a certain self conceited general manager of a railroad, whose 
arrogance has done more to reduce the business of his route, than has 
the opening of powerful rival lines. An excellent citizen of Franklin 
County, is remembered in " Earth's Brightest Star ; " and the Cutler 



214 NOTE. 

fiftieth anniversary at Bernardston, Mass., December 5, 1S76, was oc- 
casion for the verses concerning ' A Golden Day." The Lester twenty 
fifth anniversary at Miller's Falls, Mass., the same month, finds rhyth- 
mic record on the 199th page of the book. 



"RHYMES OF YANKEE LAND." 

Concerning this book of poems from the pen of Mr. 
Aella Greene, the press and people speak in these un- 
mistakable terms of admiration : 

" We read the volume through at a sitting without a diversion of 
the eyes from its silvery pages, and commend it to all who love the 
good, the true, and the beautiful. It is fragrant with simplicity, and 
originality of style, and sings as cliarmingly as ?i bird in the forest, the 
Bweet carols of everyday life." — Ilannibal {Mo.) Courier. 

" Deeds of heroism that else would have remained unknown beyond 
the immediate friends of the actors, are here enibahned in pleas- 
ant verse. The volume will be of interest not only for the local asso- 
ciations, but for the accurate character delineations it contains and 
the elegant verse in which they are presented." — Lowell Daily Courier. 

" Mr. Greene knows how to dispense with superfluity, and in his poems 
the severely simple and strictly true in tliought and utterance, throw 
their harmonies upon us. They show genius and care, and breathe 
upon us the pure atmosphere of industrious, cultivated New England." 
— St. Albans Messenrjer. 

" It is creditable to Mr. Greene, that, in an imitative age, when every 
singer has more or less of the mocking bird, he has held fiist to his own 
experience and his own arrangement of meters and tropes." — Sjiring- 
field Republican. 

"Of all the New England friends to whom the volume is dedicated 



2l6 "RHYMES OF YANKEE LAND." 

there cannot be one who will not be gratified with the contents."— 
Congregationalist, Boston. 

" Mr. Greene must be a close observer. His poems strike the heart, 
BO genial and expressive are they." — Providence Press. 

" The poems possess freshness and naturalness, combined with a rare 
rhythmical beauty." — Battle Creek Journal. 

" These poems have sung themselves before the world and need not 
tremble in presence of sage or king " — Vermont Paper. 

" The patriotic praises of Yankee Land met with a hearty response 
to every line " — President W. S. Clark. 

" ' When you and I were boys ' is a fine poem exhibiting a lively fancy 
and a cultivated taste." — Binghampton, N. Y. Repuhlican. 

" Mr. Aella Greene of Springfield has struck the right kej'-notc in 
his " Rhymes of Yankee Land." — Athol Transcript. 

" The book overflows with the life of the farm, the school and the 
meeting-house." — Adams Transcript. 

"Full of the happiness of the clover-field." — Ilolyoke Transcript. 

" Mr. Greene has a love for the sterling Yankee character." — North- 
ampton Journal. 

"It beams with light." — Western Hampden Times. 

"Fitted to lighten care and brighten life." — St. Johnshunj Caledonian, 

"A genial humor and faithful portraiture." — Kalamazoo Telegraph. 

" Sketches by a master-hand." — Galesburg (III.) Register. 

" Even photographically correct." — Albany Evening Times. 

"It has merit of a high order." — Berkshire County Eagle. 

"Unique, original and truthful " — Providence Journal. 

" Veritable poems." — Springfield Republican. 

" An admirable book." — Prof. Hiram Orcutt. 

"Pleasant Poems." — Greenfield Gazette. 



"RHYMES OF YANKEE LAND." 21/ 

'"The pansied yard, the slant well-sweep,' touch tlie Yankee heart 
in the tenderest wise. ' The thick-leafed maples where you hid when 
pattered down the rain,' make a memory sweet to many who have so 
sheltered from showers that have come up in strawberry picking." — 
iSprinyJitld Republican. 

•'One poem of rare merit — glorious in its harmony with human 
experience and human woe — we would fain reproduce entire, but our 
space lorbids, and a few stanzas must suflBce : 

' How blessed and true the belief 
That the joy which comes after grief 
Is sweeter and never so brief 
As other joys ! ' 

Among the ' Smithville worthies,' whom the poet portrays with a 
graphic pen, is conspicuously seen ' Old Mr. Smith,' whose sterling 
qualities are handsomely compressed into verse." — Hannibal (Mo.) 
Courier. 

"Aptly expressing the ideas of their Yankee author." — Palmer 
Journal. 

" The ' Smithville 'poem abounds in humorous hits and close fits." — 
Sprinqfidd Republican. 

" The poem ' Williamsburg' is a gem." — Gov. W. B. Washburn. 

" Whoever reads ' Wiien you and I were Boys,' will exclaim with 
us. Beautiful I" — South Norwalk [Ct.) Sentinel. 

" The poem ' When you and I were Boys' has life-like pictures, and 
the language is very fine." — Hon. E. B. Gillett. 

Samuel Bowles, founder of the Sprimjjitld Republican, said of the 
author of " Rhymes of Yaukeeland : " " Mr. Greeue is the best bard of 
the Valley," and concerning that very expressive compliment said, " I 
should not have said it had I not meant it." One critic says, " The 
book is certainly original in style and has no superfluities about it. 



2l8 "rhymes of YANKEE LAND." 

Nothing could be added to it in the way of terseness and square, honest 
meaning, not to mention a keen sense of the ludicrous and a keener 
contempt for all that is cruel and mean, and admiration for all brave 
and noble traits in men of whatever station." Another critic says of 
the poems : " Their trutliful imagery and genial humor reach the heart 
and appeal at once to our love of the pure and good, while, with accu- 
rate rythm and a captivating blending of simplicity and elegance of ex- 
pression, they tell the triumphs and joys of retiring, home-loving peo- 
ple." StiU another speaks in these expressive terms : " Mr. Greene's 
poems bear the mark of a distinct original individuality. They have 
the strength of sincerity and fidelity to nature, and have a ringing, ro- 
bust, healthy manliness pervading them. He has ' spoken plainly and 
briefly,' ' utilizing beauty and beautifying utility.' " 

" ' Rhymes of Yaulcee Land," the book of charming poems by Mr. 
Aella Greene of Springfield, lias reached its seventh edition. Familiar 
with men and manners in Yankee Land, Mr. Greene writes of its char- 
acters and institutions in easy, terse, original style, and tlie reader, if he 
be a New Englander, is sure to catcli tlie spirit and peruse with unal- 
loyed pleasure the trutliful verses. Tlie book lias been enlarged since 
its first appearance, and it is printed and bound in faultless style. We 
are pleased to learn that it has met a warm reception, and trust it will 
find a place in every family library." — Greenfield Gazette. 

" In the poem ' "Williamsburg,' scenes of tlie Mill River disaster are 
depicted in verse destined to immortal fame." "To the critics who 
may find aught to saj' in dispraise of the book, we feel constrained to 
quote Mr. Greene's own words : 

" 'And should these critics go to Heaven, 
Their joy would l)e to tell 
How saints might tune their harps correct 

And sing hozannas well ! ' " — Fitchhiny Sentinel. 



"rhymes of YANKEE LAND. 219 

" We commend the book to all lovers of genuine poetry. It is fresh, 
sparkling and original. Mr. Greene sketches with a master hand, and 
deals with life as one finds it in ' Yankee Land.' The ' Smithville 
Worthies " include several strikingly original characters, so naturally 
described, that one can readily call to mind their prototypes in any New 
England town." — The Household. 









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